“Twas the Night Before Christmas” on the iPhone

My family never had many traditions. Back in the ’70s, we always watched King Kong on channel 43 on Thanksgiving, and there was The Sound of Music on Easter. But as far as family traditions outside of what most families did, we were never really that creative. Except for this; every year on Christmas Eve, we’d get home from the evening church service and gather ’round the record player to hear dad’s old, scratchy 45 of Louis Armstrong reciting “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Now, the iPhone is no substitute for a vintage turntable, and Louis Armstrong is simply irreplaceable. But if you’re in a pinch for a peaceful way to end your Christmas Eve, there’s no shortage of iPhone apps available to do the trick.

Do a search for “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and you’ll turn up 18 apps. A few of these are games (Santa’s Delivery Dash? Uh…okay.), but the majority feature the classic poem by Clement C. Moore. If you’re the type who likes to read the poem yourself, BeamItDown Software’s Twas the Night before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore is about as traditional as you can get. The main feature here is that the app scrolls the text as if on a teleprompter, so it’s easy to read without the pauses of turning pages. Also, it doesn’t hurt that it’s free.

For a more modern, iPhone-style approach that still keeps its roots in tradition, check out Twas the Night Before Christmas Illustrated Story with Music from OnceUponAnApp. As implied by its name, it features a music accompaniment, but the real draw are the original illustrations by Curtis Wager-Smith. This app just looks like Christmas…or, at least what we want Christmas to look like. There’s also a bit of interactivity, as the illustrations remain in sketch form until you slide the Christmas star over the hidden object to bring out the color. Granted, this slows down the flow of the poem, but it does make it a bit more fun for kids. You can choose to bypass this feature if you prefer. This one will run you $0.99.

Other decent versions for $0.99 include LoL Software’s Night Before Christmas – Talkie Book, which also features traditional-style illustrations and the ability to either listen to a narrator or read along yourself, and Double Dog Software’s Night Before Christmas, which is based on the 1912 edition and claims to be the definitive version, illustrations and all. An interesting feature here is that you can search for specific words, making it easy to go right to the part you want.

And finally, one version I feel I have to call attention to is ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas: Or Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas from Iceberg Reader. If you have an iPhone or a 2nd gen iPod touch, you can actually record your own voice reading the poem to play back later. The black and white illustrations are quite striking, and you can pinch/zoom to get a good look at them. There are a couple other nice features as well, but I don’t need to tell you that the ability to record your own voice is the main selling point. Imagine recording your narration on an iPod touch, then sending it to a child or grandchild on Christmas Eve when you can’t be there. You can even create your own legacy, as your version becomes the standard for years to come. I can’t imagine replacing Louis Armstrong, but if I ever did, it would be with my dad reading the poem. That’s certainly worth the $7.99 asking price.

This is just a few of the options available to you, so feel free to check out the rest. The iPhone is certainly not as intimate as a book, but as long as you have a lap and a fireplace, it’ll suffice. No fireplace, you say? Well, there’s likely an app for that, too. Let me give it a look…